Parliament has called on caretaker justice minister Dilan Yesilgöz to reverse a decision to switch off the network of emergency sirens from 2026.

Yesilgöz said the sirens, which are tested on the first Monday of every month, had been made redundant by online warnings such as the NL-Alert system.

But a majority of MPs backed a motion by Joost Eerdmans, of the right-wing JA21 party, to keep the sirens switched on.

Eerdmans accepted that the deadline in his motion of the next monthly test on April 1 was not achievable, but said the minister should be able to come up with a plan “before the summer”.

Several safety boards, who are responsible for emergency services cover, have also criticised the decision to abolish the alerts as “irresponsible”. They argue that the sirens are necessary as a backup for the 8% of the population who are not covered by the NL-Alert system.